Pages

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

I was given a copy of "52 Changes" by Leo Babauta, a fellow LifeRemixer, so I did some reading over the Christmas and New Year holidays. Truth be told, I was a little skeptical and was ready to pass the book off as some new year feel good thing. After all, I was on the resolutions treadmill for years ... getting all psyched up before the year end, making an impossible list of goals ... only to forget them by the end of Jan.

That said, I do want to see some changes in my life. Making a list of lofty goals didn't work but perhaps tackling small changes on a daily, consistent basis is what I needed to see these changes established in me.

Which is where this book comes in. It's a simple one. Leo outlines 52 changes you can make in 52 weeks. He breaks down the changes into small achievable steps that you can practise and create the change in you.

Some of the changes tackled are:
#2: Unprocrastinate
#7: Most Important Things (MITs)
#12: Pay a small debt
#22: Let go of a vice

And some fun ones like
#11: Floss
#16: Eat some veggies

You don't have to do all 52 changes - just the ones that resonate or go create your own. So I thought, why not? Let's experiment and see if I can make a simple change and more importantly, make it stick.

I didn't have to go very far into the book. Unprocrastinating was my first pick. I am so easily distracted by all sorts of "busy" yet unproductive work that I often delay doing what I need to do till late at night or the next day. I know if I don't procrastinate, the payoff will be huge. That seemed like motivation enough.